Both said they believe the problems of immigration in general must be addressed by the federal government before illegal immigration in Connecticut and other states will be effectively solved.

"I've seen a sense of frustration on state levels that a comprehensive federal policy is not in place," Bartlett said. "We have a hodgepodge of attempts by states across the nation to find ways to deal with the issue of illegal immigration.

"In Danbury, there is a plan for ICE program interaction by Danbury police officers trained by the federal program," Bartlett said. "There are a lot of complications with that, starting with having local police officers enforcing federal laws."

Bartlett said he has concerns Danbury's plan could end in "turning neighbor against neighbor," and he would prefer not having 169 Connecticut communities pass local legislation.

In the state legislative session that starts in February, he expects to see lawmakers address the issue, but "without a comprehensive bill on the federal level you'll have scattered responses."

Stripp said Connecticut's immigration policy has been one of "benign neglect."

He introduced a bill Monday that would require officers going through the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to learn to handle immigration issues as they come up. Some of those would be illegal activity and some would be to "compassionately" handle immigrants working legally to become American citizens.

"By the bill, if a town CEO cared to deputise cops to deal with issues of illegal immigrants, he or she could," Stripp said.

Stripp pointed out the case known as the "Danbury 11." Yale Law student attorneys are suing the city of Danbury for an ICE sting that netted 11 illegal immigrants in September 2006.

The basis of the suit is that a Danbury police officer drove the van that picked the 11 men up, not an ICE agent, and the men thought they were going to a work site. Some have been deported, some face deportation, and the rest have cases pending.

"In the case of this bill I propose, it would have been legal for that police officer to drive that van," Stripp said.

Stripp said having local police trained to handle immigration issues would allow them to act whenever the issues arise, say in the instance of a petty burglary. This would stop the controversy involved in having ICE stings every two or three years.

Stripp says racial profiling by police happens because they lack training. His bill would help stop racial profiling by properly training police officers, and prevent immigrants who are living and working legally in the state from being harassed.

"We have to help the immigrant who comes here to work legally," Stripp said. "We have to come up with temporary work cards for seasonal workers who come into the country.

"We really have to help the people who want to be part of American culture and we're not doing that. We have to be speedier in taking immigrants through the citizenship (qualification) process."